Silky cream of mushroom soup


I'm so glad I just ate my lunch, otherwise I would be so hangry to write this wonderful vegan mushroom soup recipe. Never write a recipe with an empty stomach! Your family will thank you. Kinda useless information, but for lunch today I made a really weird dish. I was craving pasta and when I saw I had a pack of buckwheat penne, I wanted those. So I browned some onions, added chopped zucchini, penne, boiling water, herb salt and let it simmer under a cover until soft. I love to make one pot pasta. It will be much easier this way and also much more juicier. Then I really wanted to eat boiled carrot for some reason. I just chopped some huge chunks and sauteed them with onions, added water, herb salt and oat cream and let it boil until soft. Then we ate this grey buckwheat pasta with these super saucy carrots and it was actually amazing. Perfect with today's weird weather.


It was a gray morning and now it's sunny and snowing heavily. What a bizarre combination. Beautiful, too. But I really feel March is testing my sanity. It's like I am so tired of winter and it's ALMOST Spring but so isn't. So I am eager to get out and ride my bicycle and get some new fresh ideas, but it seems that everything just stands still at the moment. I've been lurking near the house plants at the hardware store lately. I've never been into house plants, but I guess my craving for the green really kicks in during this early Spring. Yesterday I saw that many other people were also looking for a new plant. I saw an older guy pick up a pot of bright yellow daffodils and it made me smile.


But let's get to this soup. Finally, you think! Enough of the house plants and elderly gentlemen. I know, I'm sorry, I got carried a way a bit. This wonderfully silky mushroom soup has been on hold for a long time. It's time to let this soup bird fly! I'm pretty sure you know how I love my recipes to be super simple, flavorful and also affordable. This recipe is definitely all that. It needs very little labor and the outcome is comforting and delicious. Usually there's cream or milk used when making a pureed soup, but I used sunflower seeds. They boil in the soup and after blending, they give this creamy texture and taste. For a crunchy bite, I recommend you to quickly roast some sunflower seeds on a dry pan. I also pan-fried a couple of sliced mushrooms with a bit of salt for the garnish. It's completely optional, of course, but it made it even more special. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Happy cooking!


Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 - 5 people

  • 5 cups / 1200 ml boiling water
  • 2 - 3 Tbsp oil
  • 2 onions
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 16 oz / 500 g fresh white mushrooms (you can leave a couple of mushrooms to pan-fry later for a garnish)
  • 1+2 tsp salt
  • ¾ cup / 60 g raw sunflower seeds
  • 3 ½ cup / 450 g potato cubes (2 large potatoes)
  • pinch of dried thyme
  • (2 - 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes)

Directions:

Pre boil the water (I used a kettle). In the meantime, heat up a thick-bottomed pot. Add oil and chopped onions. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add chopped garlic and cook for a minute. Add sliced mushroom and a teaspoon of salt. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add sunflower seeds, potato cubes, thyme and boiling water. Let the soup boil for 15 minutes under a cover. Half way, you can add another 1 - 2 teaspoons of salt. Boil until the potato cubes are soft. Taste for salt, add some nutritional yeast if you want and turn down the heat. Use a blender (it will be super smooth) or an immersion blender do blend everything into a creamy soup. Serve with roasted sunflower seeds and pan-fried mushroom slices, if you like. Enjoy!